Ron Paul: Obama should be impeached for Al-Qaeda killing

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul of Texas at the National Press Club in Washington today. (Getty Images)

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul lashed out at President Obama’s “assassination” of American-born Al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki last week in a targeted drone strike, calling it an impeachable offense.

The Texas congressman said the president has far exceeded his constitutional rights as commander-in-chief and is traveling down a slippery slope in deciding who is enough of a threat against the U.S. to kill.

“He can now assassinate people without due process–American citizens–and people cheer him. What is going on with this country?” Paul said at a National Press Club luncheon today in Washington, D.C.

Paul said killing American-born terrorists in Yemen is the first step toward targeting journalists or professors in the U.S.

“What’s going to happen when they come to the media? What if the media becomes a threat? Or a professor becomes a threat? Some day that could well happen. This is the way it works. It’s incrementalism,” Paul said.

Speaking in his usual professorial style, Paul said occupying foreign countries provokes terrorist attacks against the United States. More specifically, he asserted that American military bases on holy land in Saudi Arabia prompted the 9/11 attacks. Paul has also said U.S. involvement in the uprising in Libya is unconstitutional and costly in light of the country’s debt. He has said he fears the Libya will be taken over by another dictator or will descend into anarchy.

“We have crossed that barrier from Republic to dictatorship to tyranny.” Paul said. “This is not new, this is what’s happened throughout history. Empires, they get too big, they spread themselves too thinly around the world and they self destruct just like the Soviet system did.”

Preaching the Golden Rule, Paul said the U.S. should treat other countries as it would like to be treated. He said the U.S. shouldn’t abuse its position of power, in part because that position could change.

“What if in the next ten years we get a lot poorer and China gets a lot richer and they started drone attacks on us?” Paul said.